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KLAT (1010 AM "TUDN Radio Houston") is a
commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
in
Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
. It is owned by the
Uforia Audio Network Uforia Audio Network () is the radio broadcasting and music events division of TelevisaUnivision USA. Formerly known as Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation and Univision Radio, it is the eighth-largest radio broadcaster in the United States, and ...
and airs a
Spanish-language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...
sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...
from the co-owned
TUDN Radio TUDN Radio (formerly Univision Deportes Radio) is a U.S. Spanish-language sports radio network operated by Uforia Audio Network, a division of TelevisaUnivision. It launched on March 15, 2017 on ten AM and FM radio stations, most of which previ ...
Network. The station serves as the Spanish flagship radio station of the
Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
baseball team and the
Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...
basketball team and also airs
Houston Dynamo FC Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establis ...
soccer games. KLAT has studios and offices located at 5100 Southwest Freeway in
Uptown Houston Uptown (more commonly called The Galleria Area) is a business district in Houston, located west of Downtown and is centered along Post Oak Boulevard and Westheimer Road (Farm to Market Road 1093). The Uptown District is roughly bounded by W ...
. The
transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...
site is on West Little York Road in northwest Houston. By day, KLAT broadcasts at 5,000
watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...
s. But to protect other stations on 1010 AM, a
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
clear-channel A clear-channel station is an AM broadcasting, AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from Interference (communication), interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The syste ...
frequency, KLAT must reduce power at night to 3,600 watts.


History


Early years as KODA

On July 31, 1961, the station
signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...
as KODA. It was put on the air by Paul Taft of the Taft Broadcasting Compan

(no relation to
Taft Broadcasting The Taft Broadcasting Company (also known as Taft Television and Radio Company, Incorporated) was an American media conglomerate based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company was rooted in the Taft family, family of William Howard Taft, the 27th Presid ...
of
Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
). Taft already owned an
FM station FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...
, 99.1
KODA KODA (99.1 FM, "Sunny 99.1") is an American commercial adult contemporary-formatted radio station in Houston, Texas. The station is owned by iHeartMedia. Its studios and offices are located along the West Loop Freeway in Uptown Houston. KODA ...
-FM, airing a
beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator musi ...
format. But few people had FM radios in those days, so an AM station was added to make the format available to more Houston residents. KODA was a
daytimer A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-coun ...
during its early years, so it was required to go off the air between sunset and sunrise, while KODA-FM broadcast around the clock. At first, KODA and KODA-FM
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
the same beautiful music, competing with
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
-owned 1320
KXYZ KXYZ (1320 AM) is a commercial radio station in Houston, Texas. It is owned by iHeartMedia, and features an all-news radio format aimed at the African American community, as an affiliate of the co-owned Black Information Network. In addition t ...
, which also played
easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...
music. But beginning in 1967, the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
(FCC) banned AM-FM combos in most cities from simulcasting around the clock, so most of the day, KODA began airing a slightly different format, adding middle of the road vocals to the mostly instrumental
playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs, but sometimes a loop. The term has sever ...
. Even though 1320 KXYZ was owned by ABC, that station stopped carrying ABC newscasts; they could only be heard on 1360 KWBA (now
KWWJ KWWJ (1360 AM) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Baytown, Texas, and serving Greater Houston. It airs an urban contemporary gospel radio format, and is owned by Salt of the Earth Broadcasting. The station is branded as ''Gospel 96 ...
), based in nearby
Baytown, Texas Baytown is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Harris and Chambers counties. Located in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area, it lies on the northern side of the Galveston Bay complex near the outlets of t ...
. So the AM version of KODA began airing ABC News each hour.


"La Tremenda"

In 1978, Group W
Westinghouse Broadcasting The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndicat ...
purchased KODA-AM-FM from Taft and, the following year, re-sold the AM station. The
call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
changed to KLAT in 1979, as the format flipped to popular Spanish-language
Regional Mexican Regional Mexican is a Latin music radio format encompassing the musical genres from the different parts of rural Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Genres include banda, country en español, Duranguense, grupero, mariachi, New Mexico ...
music, branded as "La Tremenda." The name La Tremenda 1010 (which translates to "The Tremendous 1010") was a slogan created by the station's new owners, Marcos Rodriguez, Sr. and his son, Marcos A. Rodriguez, operating as the Spanish Broadcasting Corporation. In 1984, KLAT obtained FCC authorization for round-the-clock operation, giving KLAT Class B status. Unfortunately in late 1979, a fire caused the Harris MW-5 transmitter to melt down. The MW-5 used a step up transformer to raise the three phase input power (at 240 volts) to 17,000 volts. The primary wiring had been bundled closely to the secondary wiring and tightly lashed together. When an insulation breakdown allowed the input wiring to arc, the high temperatures allowed the secondary wires to short to the inputs. This caused extremely high circulating currents and a meltdown of the transformer frame, made of metal castings and laminations. To add nighttime broadcasts, a seventh tower was added to the array. This was used with five of the existing day towers to make a new parallelogram shaped system. KLAT began night operation at 1,000 watts. This properly protected other stations on AM 1010 as required by FCC rules, but the nighttime signal did not cover all of Houston. This particular authorization was allowed under a waiver for minority-owned stations. Later on, the station received special authority from the FCC to mitigate interference at night from foreign stations (as many south Florida stations get a break from Cuban interference such as WAXY in South
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
). This
special temporary authority Special Temporary Authority (STA) in U.S. broadcast law is a type of broadcast license which temporarily allows a broadcast station to operate outside of its normal technical or legal parameters. In the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) stat ...
(STA) allowed the station to operate at 5,000 watts at night using all seven towers. This improved coverage but did not give KLAT 100% nighttime coverage of Houston. In 1995 the station built a second tower site in Northwest Houston, using six towers and 3,600 watts for nighttime operation. The lowered power did not cover quite as large an area as the former setup. But because of the transmitter's better location, it covered more of the Houston
radio market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...
. The project used several consultants, ending with duTreil, Lundin and Rackley.


Expanded Band assignment

On March 17, 1997 the FCC announced that eighty-eight stations had been given permission to move to newly available " Expanded Band" transmitting frequencies, ranging from 1610 to 1700 kHz, with KLAT authorized to move from 1010 to 1690 kHz."FCC Public Notice: Mass Media Bureau Announces Revised AM Expanded Band Allotment Plan and Filing Window for Eligible Stations"
(FCC DA 97-537), March 17, 1997.
However, the station never procured the Construction Permit needed to implement the authorization, so the expanded band station was never built.


Spanish-language talk and sports

In 2003, KLAT was bought by
Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...
, primarily a Spanish-language TV network that was also getting into radio ownership. It became the flagship station of the
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
's
Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
. In 2012, KLAT became part of the
Univision America Univision America (stylized as Univision AMerica) was a Spanish-language talk radio network produced and distributed by Univision Communications. It was launched on July 4, 2012 on 9 U.S. AM radio stations in California, Texas, Illinois, Nevad ...
talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
network. That continued until July 17, 2015, when the talk format was dropped and replaced by a Spanish
Christian contemporary Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...
format known as "Amor Celestial" which translates to "Heavenly Love". In March 2016, KLAT began to air
Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...
soccer games, as a first step into
sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...
. On December 20, 2016, Univision announced that KLAT would be one of the charter affiliates of
Univision Deportes Radio TUDN Radio (formerly Univision Deportes Radio) is a U.S. Spanish-language sports radio network operated by Uforia Audio Network, a division of TelevisaUnivision. It launched on March 15, 2017 on ten AM and FM radio stations, most of which previo ...
, a Spanish-language sports network launched in April 2017. Astros baseball broadcasts refurned for the 2021 season.


Latino Media Network sale

On June 3, 2022, Univision announced it would sell a package of 18 radio stations across 10 of its markets, primarily AM outlets in large cities (including KLAT) and entire clusters in smaller markets such as
McAllen, Texas McAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States, and the 22nd-most populous city in Texas. It is located at the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, on the Mexico–United States border. The city limits extend ...
, and
Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...
, for $60 million to a new company known as Latino Media Network (LMN); Univision proposes to handle operations for a year under agreement before turning over operational control to LMN in the fourth quarter of 2023.


References


External links


La Tremenda 1010 AM Site

FCC History Cards for KLAT
{{TUDN Radio Hispanic and Latino American culture in Houston
LAT Lat or LAT may refer to: Places * Lat, Fuman, village in Gilan Province, Iran * Lat, Rasht, village in Gilan Province, Iran * Lat, Mazandaran, village in Iran * Lat-e Disar, village in Mazandaran Province, Iran * Lat, Qazvin, village in I ...
Sports radio stations in the United States
LAT Lat or LAT may refer to: Places * Lat, Fuman, village in Gilan Province, Iran * Lat, Rasht, village in Gilan Province, Iran * Lat, Mazandaran, village in Iran * Lat-e Disar, village in Mazandaran Province, Iran * Lat, Qazvin, village in I ...
Univision Radio Network stations Radio stations established in 1961 1961 establishments in Texas